The findings of a study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) suggest that higher exposure to air pollution is associated with higher functional brain connectivity among several brain regions in preadolescents, while exposure to traffic noise was not.

The findings also identify the first years of life as the most sensitive period of exposure to air pollution. Traffic-related air pollution and noise are affecting an increasing number of people worldwide.

"We already know that children are particularly vulnerable to the effect of these exposures, because of their immature metabolism and developing brain," says ISGlobal researcher and senior author Monica Guxens.

Several studies by Guxens and others have found an association between exposure to traffic-related air pollution during early childhood and alterations in the brain structure.